# 2020 Boston Red Sox season

The 2020 Boston Red Sox season was the 120th season in the team's history, and their 109th season at Fenway Park. The team entered spring training with a new leader in baseball operations, Chaim Bloom, and a new field manager, Ron Roenicke.
On March 12, 2020, MLB announced that because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks in addition to the remainder of spring training being cancelled. Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by the CDC to restrict events of more than 50 people for eight weeks. On June 23, MLB announced that pre-season training would resume by July 1, in anticipation of a regular season of 60 games. The season was held without fans at Fenway Park due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Red Sox began their regular season on July 24, in a home game against the Baltimore Orioles. On September 12, the team suffered its 31st loss, assuring them of finishing the season with a losing record, their first since 2015. On September 27, prior to the team's final regular season game, the Red Sox announced that Roenicke would not return as manager for the 2021 season. The team ended the season with a record of 24 wins and 36 losses, finishing in last place in the American League East division, 16 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays. Boston's .400 winning percentage was the lowest for the franchise since the 1965 Red Sox finished with a .383 winning percentage (62–100). Average television viewership for Red Sox games broadcast by NESN fell by 54% from 2019 figures, the largest drop of the 25 MLB teams reporting viewership data.

## Offseason

The team completed its 2019 season with interim executive leadership, as Brian O'Halloran, Eddie Romero, Zack Scott, and Raquel Ferreira oversaw baseball operations following the September 9 dismissal of Dave Dombrowski, president of baseball operations. As the season came to a close, principal owner John W. Henry and chairman Tom Werner stated that they want the team to get its payroll under the Major League Baseball luxury tax threshold. The team's 2019 payroll of $243 million was $37 million over the $206 million threshold, resulting in the team paying $13 million in luxury tax. The 2020 threshold was set at $208 million.

## Regular season

On July 6, MLB announced the revised 2020 regular-season schedule—"each team will play a regionally based schedule featuring 40 divisional games and 20 Interleague games against the corresponding geographical division." The Red Sox' opponents:
Red Sox 2020 Games vs. Opponents (results) :
| Team | Division | Game vs. | Games at | Total |
| Atlanta Braves | NL East | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Baltimore Orioles | AL East | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Miami Marlins | NL East | – | 3 | 3 |
| New York Mets | NL East | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| New York Yankees | AL East | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | NL East | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | AL East | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | AL East | 8† | 2 | 10 |
| Washington Nationals | NL East | 3 | – | 3 |
| Total | — | 31 | 29 | 60 |
† The Blue Jays' home ballpark during the 2020 regular season was Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York. One game postponed in Buffalo was played in Boston, with the Red Sox batting as the away team (counts as a home game in statistics).

### Opening Day lineup

| Order | No. | Player | Pos. |
| 1 | 16 | Andrew Benintendi | LF |
| 2 | 28 | J. D. Martinez | DH |
| 3 | 11 | Rafael Devers | 3B |
| 4 | 2 | Xander Bogaerts | SS |
| 5 | 5 | Kevin Pillar | RF |
| 6 | 7 | Christian Vázquez | C |
| 7 | 23 | Michael Chavis | 1B |
| 8 | 19 | Jackie Bradley Jr. | CF |
| 9 | 3 | José Peraza | 2B |
| — | 17 | Nathan Eovaldi | P |
Source:

## Season standings
### American League East

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 40 | 20 | .667 | — | 20‍–‍9 | 20‍–‍11 |
| New York Yankees | 33 | 27 | .550 | 7 | 22‍–‍9 | 11‍–‍18 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 32 | 28 | .533 | 8 | 17‍–‍9 | 15‍–‍19 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 25 | 35 | .417 | 15 | 13‍–‍20 | 12‍–‍15 |
| Boston Red Sox | 24 | 36 | .400 | 16 | 11‍–‍20 | 13‍–‍16 |

### Record against opponents

2020 American League recordvte
Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2020 :
| Team | BAL | BOS | NYY | TB | TOR | NL |
| Baltimore | — | 5–5 | 3–7 | 4–6 | 2–8 | 11–9 |
| Boston | 5–5 | — | 1–9 | 3–7 | 5–5 | 10–10 |
| New York | 7–3 | 9–1 | — | 2–8 | 5–5 | 10–10 |
| Tampa Bay | 6–4 | 7–3 | 8–2 | — | 6–4 | 13–7 |
| Toronto | 8–2 | 5–5 | 5–5 | 4–6 | — | 10–10 |
Red Sox vs. National League East :
| Team | ATL | MIA | NYM | PHI | WSH |
| Boston | 2–4 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 |

## Game log

Revised schedules for 2020 were released on July 6. MLB scheduled the Red Sox to play a total of 60 games against nine opponents—four in the American League East and five in the National League East—involving travel to Washington, D.C. (Nationals) and five states outside of Massachusetts: Florida (Marlins and Rays), Georgia (Braves), Maryland (Orioles), New York (Mets, Yankees, and Blue Jays), and Pennsylvania (Phillies).
On July 24, it was announced that the Blue Jays would play their 2020 home games at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York. On August 6, MLB announced changes to several teams' schedules; changes for the Red Sox were:
* Phillies at Red Sox: August 19 game time changed from 7:05 p.m. to 1:35 p.m.
* Red Sox at Phillies: games of September 8–9 changed to a doubleheader on September 8
* Red Sox at Marlins: games of September 14–16 moved to September 15–17
Doubleheaders during the 2020 regular season consisted of two seven-inning games (with extra innings played in the event of a tie). All extra innings played during the 2020 regular season began with a runner on second base, with the runner being the player in the batting order immediately before the first batter of the inning (example: if a team's first batter in an extra inning was fifth in the order, the runner placed on second base was the player batting fourth).
| Red Sox Win | Red Sox Loss | Game Postponed | Eliminated from Playoff Race | Clinched Playoff Spot | Clinched Division --> |
2020 Boston Red Sox Season Game Log: 24–36 (Home: 11–20; Away: 13–16) :
July: 3–5 (Home: 1–4; Away: 2–1)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumRecordBox/ Streak
1Jul 24Orioles13–2Eovaldi (1–0)Milone (0–1)—Fenway Park1–0W1
2Jul 25Orioles2–7Cobb (1–0)Pérez (0–1)—Fenway Park1–1L1
3Jul 26Orioles4–7LeBlanc (1–0)Weber (0–1)Sulser (1)Fenway Park1–2L2
4Jul 27Mets4–7Wacha (1–0)Osich (0–1)Lugo (1)Fenway Park1–3L3
5Jul 28Mets3–8Peterson (1–0)Hall (0–1)—Fenway Park1–4L4
6Jul 29@ Mets6–5Hembree (1–0)Wilson (0–1)Workman (1)Citi Field2–4W1
7Jul 30@ Mets4–2Pérez (1–1)Matz (0–1)Workman (2)Citi Field3–4W2
8Jul 31@ Yankees1–5Montgomery (1–0)Weber (0–2)—Yankee Stadium3–5L1 :
August: 9–18 (Home: 5–8; Away: 4–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumRecordBox/ Streak
9Aug 1@ Yankees2–5Nelson (1–0)Godley (0–1)Hale (1)Yankee Stadium3–6L2
10Aug 2@ Yankees7–9Ottavino (1–0)Barnes (0–1)Britton (3)Yankee Stadium3–7L3
11Aug 4@ Rays1–5Morton (1–1)Eovaldi (1–1)Anderson (1)Tropicana Field3–8L4
12Aug 5@ Rays5–0Pérez (2–1)Yarbrough (0–2)—Tropicana Field4–8W1
13Aug 7Blue Jays5–3Hembree (2–0)Roark (1–1)Workman (3)Fenway Park5–8W2
14Aug 8Blue Jays1–2Kay (1–0)Walden (0–1)Bass (3)Fenway Park5–9L1
15Aug 9Blue Jays5–3Barnes (1–1)Hatch (0–1)—Fenway Park6–9W1
16Aug 10Rays7–8Loup (1–0)Springs (0–1)Kittredge (1)Fenway Park6–10L1
17Aug 11Rays2–8Curtiss (1–0)Pérez (2–2)—Fenway Park6–11L2
18Aug 12Rays5–9Snell (1–0)Godley (0–2)—Fenway Park6–12L3
19Aug 13Rays8–17Beeks (1–1)Hart (0–1)Banda (1)Fenway Park6–13L4
20Aug 14@ Yankees3–10Cole (4–0)Brewer (0–1)—Yankee Stadium6–14L5
21Aug 15@ Yankees5–11Paxton (1–1)Eovaldi (1–2)—Yankee Stadium6–15L6
22Aug 16@ Yankees2–4Happ (1–1)Mazza (0–1)Britton (8)Yankee Stadium6–16L7
23Aug 17@ Yankees3–6King (1–1)Pérez (2–3)—Yankee Stadium6–17L8
24Aug 18Phillies6–13Parker (1–0)Taylor (0–1)—Fenway Park6–18L9
25Aug 19Phillies6–3Brice (1–0)Arrieta (1–3)Workman (4)Fenway Park7–18W1
26Aug 20@ Orioles7–1Eovaldi (2–2)Wojciechowski (1–3)—Camden Yards8–18W2
27Aug 21@ Orioles8–5Hernández (1–0)Means (0–2)Barnes (1)Camden Yards9–18W3
28Aug 22@ Orioles4–5 (10)Castro (1–0)Barnes (1–2)—Camden Yards9–19L1
29Aug 23@ Orioles4–5Eshelman (2–0)Godley (0–3)Scott (1)Camden Yards9–20L2
30Aug 25@ Blue Jays9–7Valdéz (1–0)Font (1–3)Barnes (2)Sahlen Field10–20W1
31Aug 26@ Blue Jays1–9Yamaguchi (1–2)Brewer (0–2)—Sahlen Field10–21L1
—Aug 27@ Blue JaysPostponed (strikes due to shooting of Jacob Blake). Makeup date September 4.
32Aug 28Nationals2–10Scherzer (3–1)Pérez (2–4)—Fenway Park10–22L2
33Aug 29Nationals5–3Brasier (1–0)Sánchez (1–4)Barnes (3)Fenway Park11–22W1
34Aug 30Nationals9–5Osich (1–1)Voth (0–4)—Fenway Park12–22W2
35Aug 31Braves3–6Fried (6–0)Brewer (0–3)Melancon (7)Fenway Park12–23L1 :
September: 12–13 (Home: 5–8; Away: 7–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumRecordBox/ Streak
36Sep 1Braves3–10Anderson (2–0)Stock (0–1)—Fenway Park12–24L2
37Sep 2Braves5–7Matzek (3–2)Triggs (0–2)Melancon (8)Fenway Park12–25L3
38Sep 3Blue Jays2–6 (10)Dolis (2–1)Valdéz (1–1)—Fenway Park12–26L4
39Sep 4 (1)Blue Jays7–8 (7)Cole (2–0)Godley (0–4)Bass (5)Fenway Park12–27L5
40Sep 4 (2)Blue Jays†3–2 (7)Taylor (1–1)Stripling (3–2)Barnes (4)Fenway Park13–27W1
41Sep 5Blue Jays9–8Kickham (1–0)Bass (2–3)—Fenway Park14–27W2
42Sep 6Blue Jays8–10Hatch (3–1)Hall (0–2)Dolis (2)Fenway Park14–28L1
43Sep 8 (1)@ Phillies5–6 (7)Neris (2–1)Barnes (1–3)—Citizens Bank Park14–29L2
44Sep 8 (2)@ Phillies5–2 (7)Mazza (1–1)Phelps (2–4)Walden (1)Citizens Bank Park15–29W1
45Sep 10@ Rays4–3Weber (1–2)Fairbanks (4–2)Barnes (5)Tropicana Field16–29W2
46Sep 11@ Rays1–11Snell (4–1)Hall (0–3)—Tropicana Field16–30L1
47Sep 12@ Rays4–5Glasnow (3–1)Walden (0–2)Castillo (4)Tropicana Field16–31L2
48Sep 13@ Rays6–3Pérez (3–4)Fairbanks (4–3)Barnes (6)Tropicana Field17–31W1
49Sep 15@ Marlins2–0Houck (1–0)Alcántara (2–2)Barnes (7)Marlins Park18–31W2
50Sep 16@ Marlins4–8García (2–0)Kickham (1–1)—Marlins Park18–32L1
51Sep 17@ Marlins5–3Eovaldi (3–2)Ureña (0–2)Barnes (8)Marlins Park19–32W1
52Sep 18Yankees5–6 (12)Loáisiga (3–0)Weber (1–3)—Fenway Park19–33L1
53Sep 19Yankees0–8Happ (2–2)Mazza (1–2)—Fenway Park19–34L2
54Sep 20Yankees10–2Houck (2–0)García (2–2)—Fenway Park20–34W1
55Sep 22Orioles8–3Pivetta (1–0)Akin (1–2)Barnes (9)Fenway Park21–34W2
56Sep 23Orioles9–1Eovaldi (4–2)Kremer (1–1)—Fenway Park22–34W3
57Sep 24Orioles1–13Cobb (2–5)Pérez (3–5)—Fenway Park22–35L1
58Sep 25@ Braves7–8 (11)Greene (1–0)Springs (0–2)—Truist Park22–36L2
59Sep 26@ Braves8–2Houck (3–0)Davidson (0–1)—Truist Park23–36W1
60Sep 27@ Braves9–1Pivetta (2–0)Smith (2–2)—Truist Park24–36W2 :
† In the second game on September 4, Toronto was the home team.

### Grand slams

| No. | Date | Red Sox batter | H/A | Pitcher | Opposing team |
| 1 | August 12 | J. D. Martinez | Home | Aaron Slegers | Tampa Bay Rays |
| 2 | September 26 | Christian Vázquez | Away | Tucker Davidson | Atlanta Braves |

### Ejections

The Red Sox did not have anyone ejected during the 2020 season.

## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | AVG | SLG |
| Rafael Devers | 57 | 232 | 32 | 61 | 16 | 1 | 11 | 43 | 0 | 13 | .263 | .483 |
| J. D. Martinez | 54 | 211 | 22 | 45 | 16 | 0 | 7 | 27 | 1 | 22 | .213 | .389 |
| Xander Bogaerts | 56 | 203 | 36 | 61 | 8 | 0 | 11 | 28 | 8 | 21 | .300 | .502 |
| Alex Verdugo | 53 | 201 | 36 | 62 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 4 | 17 | .308 | .478 |
| Jackie Bradley Jr. | 55 | 191 | 32 | 54 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 22 | 5 | 23 | .283 | .450 |
| Christian Vázquez | 47 | 173 | 22 | 49 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 23 | 4 | 16 | .283 | .457 |
| Michael Chavis | 42 | 146 | 16 | 31 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 3 | 8 | .212 | .377 |
| Kevin Pillar | 30 | 117 | 20 | 32 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 8 | .274 | .470 |
| José Peraza | 34 | 111 | 13 | 25 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 5 | .225 | .342 |
| Kevin Plawecki | 24 | 82 | 8 | 28 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 5 | .341 | .463 |
| Bobby Dalbec | 23 | 80 | 13 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 0 | 10 | .263 | .600 |
| Jonathan Araúz | 25 | 72 | 8 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 8 | .250 | .319 |
| Mitch Moreland | 22 | 67 | 14 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 21 | 0 | 11 | .328 | .746 |
| Tzu-Wei Lin | 26 | 52 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .154 | .173 |
| Christian Arroyo | 14 | 50 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 4 | .240 | .440 |
| Yairo Muñoz | 12 | 45 | 6 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | .333 | .511 |
| Andrew Benintendi | 14 | 39 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | .103 | .128 |
| César Puello | 5 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .375 | .375 |
| Deivy Grullón | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .333 |
| Jonathan Lucroy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .--- | .--- |
| Team Totals | 60 | 2083 | 292 | 552 | 118 | 7 | 81 | 278 | 31 | 187 | .265 | .445 |
Source:

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Martín Pérez | 3 | 5 | 4.50 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 62.0 | 55 | 33 | 31 | 28 | 46 |
| Nathan Eovaldi | 4 | 2 | 3.72 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 48.1 | 51 | 20 | 20 | 7 | 52 |
| Ryan Weber | 1 | 3 | 4.40 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 43.0 | 44 | 23 | 21 | 14 | 27 |
| Phillips Valdéz | 1 | 1 | 3.26 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 30.1 | 33 | 16 | 11 | 16 | 30 |
| Chris Mazza | 1 | 2 | 4.80 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 30.0 | 34 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 29 |
| Zack Godley | 0 | 4 | 8.16 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 28.2 | 42 | 26 | 26 | 14 | 28 |
| Colten Brewer | 0 | 3 | 5.61 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 25.2 | 31 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 25 |
| Ryan Brasier | 1 | 0 | 3.96 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 25.0 | 24 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 30 |
| Matt Barnes | 1 | 3 | 4.30 | 24 | 0 | 9 | 23.0 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 31 |
| Jeffrey Springs | 0 | 2 | 7.08 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 20.1 | 30 | 18 | 16 | 7 | 28 |
| Austin Brice | 1 | 0 | 5.95 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 19.2 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 25 |
| Tanner Houck | 3 | 0 | 0.53 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 17.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 21 |
| Josh Osich | 1 | 1 | 5.74 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 15.2 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 20 |
| Dylan Covey | 0 | 0 | 7.07 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 14.0 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 2 | 11 |
| Mike Kickham | 1 | 1 | 7.71 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 14.0 | 21 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 17 |
| Robert Stock | 0 | 1 | 4.73 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13.1 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 14 |
| Marcus Walden | 0 | 2 | 9.45 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 13.1 | 23 | 18 | 14 | 9 | 10 |
| Kyle Hart | 0 | 1 | 15.55 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 11.0 | 24 | 21 | 19 | 10 | 13 |
| Nick Pivetta | 2 | 0 | 1.80 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| Heath Hembree | 2 | 0 | 5.59 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 10 |
| Matt Hall | 0 | 3 | 18.69 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8.2 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 10 | 9 |
| Darwinzon Hernández | 1 | 0 | 2.16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 13 |
| Andrew Triggs | 0 | 1 | 4.50 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8.0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Josh Taylor | 1 | 1 | 9.82 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 7.1 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 7 |
| Brandon Workman | 0 | 0 | 4.05 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 6.2 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| Robinson Leyer | 0 | 0 | 21.21 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4.2 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 9 |
| Domingo Tapia | 0 | 0 | 2.08 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Tzu-Wei Lin | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Plawecki | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| José Peraza | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 24 | 36 | 5.58 | 60 | 60 | 14 | 524.0 | 587 | 351 | 325 | 252 | 537 |
Source:

### MLB debuts

Red Sox players who made their MLB debuts during the 2020 regular season:
* July 24: Jonathan Araúz
* August 13: Kyle Hart
* August 30: Bobby Dalbec
* August 31: Robinson Leyer
* September 11: Domingo Tapia
* September 15: Tanner Houck

### Transactions

Notable transactions of/for players on the 40-man roster during the 2020 regular season:
* July 25: The team claimed pitcher Stephen Gonsalves off of waivers from the New York Mets.
* July 26: The team claimed pitcher Robert Stock off of waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies.
* July 29: Catcher Jonathan Lucroy was designated for assignment; he was sent outright to the alternate training site on August 1.
* August 13: The team claimed infielder Christian Arroyo off of waivers from the Cleveland Indians.
* August 19: The team claimed pitcher Andrew Triggs off of waivers from the San Francisco Giants. Gonsalves and fellow pitcher Mike Shawaryn were designated for assignment; both were outrighted to minor league assignments a week later.
* August 20: The team designated Arroyo for assignment; he was sent outright to the alternate training site on August 23.
* August 21: The team traded Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree, and cash considerations to Philadelphia for pitcher Nick Pivetta and minor leaguer pitcher Connor Seabold.
* August 26: The team released pitcher R. J. Alvarez.
* August 30: The team traded Mitch Moreland to the San Diego Padres for two minor-league prospects, infielder Hudson Potts and outfielder Jeisson Rosario. The team also released infielder Marco Hernández.
* August 31: On the day of the trade deadline, the team sent Kevin Pillar to the Colorado Rockies and Josh Osich to the Chicago Cubs; both in exchange for a player to be named later, plus "future considerations" from the Rockies.
* September 3: The team claimed catcher Deivy Grullón off of waivers from Philadelphia.
* September 18: The Red Sox received pitcher Jacob Wallace from the Rockies, to complete the Pillar trade.

### Amateur draft

Boston's selections in the 2020 MLB draft, held on June 10–11, are listed below. The team did not have a second-round pick, as punishment from MLB's investigation about electronic sign-stealing by the 2018 Red Sox. The draft was limited to five rounds, per agreement reached in March 2020 between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). The deadline to sign drafted players was August 1, 2020.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | B/T | Class | School | Signing date |
| 1 | 17 | Nick Yorke | 2B | R/R | HS Sr. | Mitty HS (CA) | July 7 |
| 3 | 89 | Blaze Jordan | 3B | R/R | HS Sr. | DeSoto Central HS (MS) | July 17 |
| 4 | 118 | Jeremy Wu-Yelland | P | L/L | 4YR Jr. | Hawaii | July 15 |
| 5 | 148 | Shane Drohan | P | L/L | 4YR Jr. | Florida State | July 17 |

## Farm system

Minor league managerial assignments were announced by the Red Sox on January 16, 2020. The only change from the prior season was Sandy Madera, named to manage one of the Dominican Summer League teams. In March, MLB Pipeline ranked the Red Sox' farm system 25th, in their evaluation of the minor league organizations of all 30 MLB teams. On June 30, it was announced that the 2020 Minor League Baseball season would not be played, another impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports.
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Pawtucket Red Sox | International League | Billy McMillon |
| AA | Portland Sea Dogs | Eastern League | Joe Oliver |
| A-Advanced | Salem Red Sox | Carolina League | Corey Wimberly |
| A | Greenville Drive | South Atlantic League | Iggy Suarez |
| A-Short Season | Lowell Spinners | New York–Penn League | Luke Montz |
| Rookie | GCL Red Sox | Gulf Coast League | Tom Kotchman |
| Rookie | DSL Red Sox 1 | Dominican Summer League | Ozzie Chavez |
| Rookie | DSL Red Sox 2 | Dominican Summer League | Sandy Madera |